We are all shocked and devastated by the sudden departure of Dr. Olusola Akinyele.
Dr. Akinyele arrived in the US at the invitation of a world-class mathematician, Dr. Walter Rudin from the University of Wisconsin. Since 1993, he became a member of the Bowie State University (BSU) academic community. The same year, he was bestowed a prestigious title of the Wilson H. Elkins Professorship of Mathematics by the University System of Maryland.
From the beginning of his tenure at BSU, Dr. Akinyele became a very active and the most professionally accomplished member of the Department of Mathematics. Olusola was elected historically the first chairperson of our department when it separated from the Department of Computer Science and then Department of Natural Sciences (1996 and 1998). He led our group for 6 years.
Dr. Akinyele’s research topics initially included the topological group theory and functional analysis. Later, his interest changed to the stability theory of impulsive differential systems, large-scale dynamical systems, differential inequalities, and Lyapunov functions. He wrote several dozen research publications that appeared mostly in the international referred journals. For many years, Olusola was an active reviewer for the Mathematical Reviews. He participated in several Joint Mathematical Meetings (annual national meetings of mathematicians), several Regional AMS meetings, as well as our own departmental seminars.
Since 2004, Olusola became entirely devoted to pedagogical efforts. He was a universal instructor, teaching at every level he was asked to cover. This included lower-division general education courses, as well as the specialized Differential and Partial Differential Equation courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. He was generously sharing his time with our graduate students, whom he tutored when they needed help, e.g., in the set theory and logic. His generosity was proverbial.
In addition, Dr. Akinyele was an active member of several important committees, including the Departmental Rank and Tenure Committee (chair), Faculty Advisor of the BSU Student Chapter MAA, Member of the School and Sciences Arts Curriculum Committee.
Olusola, your wisdom and advice will be sorely missed not only in our department but also in the School of Arts and Sciences, and at Bowie State University, in general.
Our thoughts and prayers go to the family of Dr. Olusola Akinyele.